


The American Empire

by LordofMonsters



Series: Cyberpunk Empire America [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate History, Cyberpunk, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:54:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29096091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordofMonsters/pseuds/LordofMonsters
Summary: just some backstory for my other fanfic
Series: Cyberpunk Empire America [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2134734
Kudos: 1





	1. History

Most of this universe’s history is similar to ours, but some key differences created their situation. One being that George Washington died in the Revolutionary War, leaving Thomas Jefferson and John Adams to campaign against each other, with Jefferson winning. He created the peerage system, calling it a meritocracy, and appointing the first Grand Council of Kings, and later kings of each state. Each king would appoint an amount of dukes and duchesses proportionate to the size of their state. Jefferson became the first Emperor of America, and there weren’t term limits at this time. Women were always allowed in the government.

One major difference was that in many areas of the north, starting with Pennsylvania and King Ben Franklin in the 1790s, slavery was banned, and a civil war over slavery happened in 1800 instead of 1860. The Northern states had all banned slavery by this time, and seceded from the Empire to form the Resistance of Free States, electing James Madison as their Emperor, who had joined this movement and freed his slaves due to his initial qualms with the institution. 

Thomas Jefferson declared war, but the Resistance had good technology due to the industries in their territory, despite their lack of people. It was mostly a cold war, however, when Alexander Hamilton became president in 1816, he negotiated that he’d ban slavery in exchange for unity of the empire and the north helping him enforce this act. They agreed.

Not long after this war, the technological revolution began with steel and upgraded railroads.

In the 1860s, radicals like Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and William Still led a movement that had been bubbling over the past few decades, for black people to earn the right to become peers. They were successful, though Still was killed in the conflicts that happened. Marchioness Tubman and Marquess Douglass became the first black peers. 

In the 1870s, cars and telephones became common among peers. 

The first nuclear bomb was used in WWI (which happened around the same time it did in our world), against Germany, by Great Britain. This ended the war, but led to statutes about banning nuclear weapons from being used, and the League of Nations was created.

Televisions became common among peers by the 1920s.

In 1930, the most important invention of this timeline happened: Nikola Tesla invented hard-light, spurring yet another industrial revolution. WWII happened in the midst of this, and in 1936, Hitler intended to nuke Poland to promote outrage. However, a hard light net was formed over the whole country by ally planes, and this assault was prevented. With hard-light weaponry, the allies laid waste on Germany by 1937, leading to Hitler committing suicide and the surrender of Germany.

Duke Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his reforms weren’t popular among nobles, so he never became emperor and child labor continued into the 50s, when the ideas finally gained a voice through Emperor Martin Luther King and High King Malcolm Shabazz. They also ended segregation and set a 2 term limit for emperors. They tried to end the peerage all together, but weren’t able to pass that.

By the 70s, devices based around hard-light that were like computers and mobile phones were fairly common among peers.

tbc


	2. Ranks of the Peerage

##  Ranks

###  Executive

Emperor/Empress- Akin to president, rules over all of America. Can grant any executive rank of nobility.

High King/High Queen- Akin to vice president

Grand Kings/Grand Queens- The cabinet and supreme court.

###  Courtesy

Sovereign Kings/Sovereign Queens- Past emperors, empresses, high kings and high queens. The title is mostly a courtesy, and they don’t have any official responsibilities unless holding another title.

Sovereign Dukes/Sovereign Duchesses- Past grand kings and grand queens, again, they don’t have official responsibilities unless holding another title.

###  Legislative

Kings/Queens- Akin to governors, they rule over states and have the final confirmation on new duches. They can appoint lesser nobles.

Archdukes/Archduchesses- Akin to senate leaders and the house speaker. They’re elected by the duches. They can appoint lesser nobles.

Dukes/Duchesses- Roughly akin to congresspeople. They form the house and senate. The members of the house are elected by the lesser nobles (but still confirmed by their king or queen) while the senators are handpicked by higher ranks. They can appoint lesser nobles.

###  Lesser

These ranks rule over different sizes of estates. They elect house duches. Typically the class running businesses and corporations. These titles do pass through hereditary lines.

Marquess/Marchioness

Count/Countess

Viscount/Viscountess

Baron/Baroness

Baronet/Baronetess

Lord/Lady

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> So, the current stage is vapid economic inequity, worse than in our America, and some racial conflicts. The coronavirus pandemic also exists in this reality. I know this isn’t super well thought out, but it’s just for fun. I'll add more when I think of it.


End file.
